Mysterious Clues: A Miraculous Ladybug Tale
by DearestMrIcarus
Summary: Sequel to 20 Questions. Adrien has been kidnapped by "Ghost Moth" a new villain who has stolen many of the miraculous. Now he must leave discrete clues to help his Lady and friends find him, as well as letting them know the identity of his captor. (Hiatus)
1. Scorched Denim

This is the first chapter to the sequel of 20 Questions: A Miraculous Ladybug Tale. If you haven't read the first book, check it out first, or be prepared for spoilers.

Disclaimer... um... you know... MLB... not mine. Darn.

**Chapter 1- Scorched Denim**

Marinette frowned at the scene. She turned off the iron, and ran to the door. The hinges had been ripped right out of the door frame.

She reached for her phone, tapping the touch screen as fast as she could.

Calling: Mon Chaton

"MARI!" her husband's garbled voice screamed,"... *static*... catnapped me! You've-"

"Hey, where did you get that phone?" another voice echoed.

The line went dead.

"Stay calm Mari," she told herself,"after all, they can't lock him up; he could Cataclysm himself out of any trap".

But still, she felt worried.

She eventually decided to do the only thing she could think to do. She called Master Fu.

Calling: Old Man Fu (Adrien had changed his contact info, supposedly 'to protect the guardian's contact information from looking too suspicious'. Marinette was fairly certain that 'old man fu' just made Adrien laugh).

"Hello, Marinette".

"Master Fu, we have a problem. Someone kidnapped Adrien, and whoever did it has some sort of super strength. They tore our front door off the frame".

She heard some choice words shouted from the guardian before he spoke to her again.

"Then I have worse news. Someone broke into my home about an hour ago. I think I got home when they were here, and they left before they could take all of them".

Marinette felt her blood chill.

"Them?" she asked.

"The Miraculous. I only have Pollen and Sass, the thief must have dropped them, but they have all the others".

"So... Master, we have Tikki, Wayzz, Trixx, Pollen, and Sass. And they have all the others?"

She heard a deep sigh on the other end of the line.

"Yes... well we have the peacock Miraculous as well, but no way to repair it. Now Marinette, I need you to think, did your husband do or say anything to let you know what happened, or where he is?"

"Um..." she tried to think,"he said he had been 'catnapped', and he was ironing his jeans when he was grabbed... which he never does, 'ironing is for shirts and slacks' he always says. Um... some pictures were destroyed. One is of our honeymoon in Hawaii. One is a business trip we took to Milan last week. And a couple are candids that ended up nice enough to frame... I don't see anything actually useful here, sorry Master".

There was a pause while Fu stewed on the new information. Then he spoke.

"There may be more there than we think. If he said catnapped, I would bet that means his captor knows he is Chat Noir...".

"Which would imply either he was abducted as Chat, or they took his ring because they already knew he could transform," Marinette added.

Marinette cursed under her breath. If that was the case, she couldn't count on Adrien freeing himself.

"Correct. Perhaps it would be best if you met with Rena and Carapace to discuss this further. You may also take the remaining two miraculous from my care. I am afraid I can no longer protect them," the old man said mournfully.

The pair bid farewell, and Marinette jumped into action.

Calling: Sister (Alya basically was)

"Mari, what's up?"

At this point Marinette realised she was sobbing.

"T-they took Adrien," she blubbered,"a-a-and stole Fu's mir-mir-miraculous".

"Wait, what?! Who did. Mari, Nino and I will be right there".

It took about five minutes before Alya got there, which was an impressive feat. They lived 20 minutes away. A bir later Nino made it with the twins in tow.

As the young parents carried their infant children into the home, they calmed their friend down. Eventually they asked for a more detailed explanation.

Marinette covered the break in, her calls to Adrien and Fu, and the clues. What she didn't mention was why she had been in the bathroom; she felt that Adrien should be the first to know.

Nino investigated the house while Alya talked to Marinette.

"Marinette... are you holding a pregnancy test?"

It was only then that she realised that she hadn't let go of it.

"Um..." she tried to move it behind a book, but that only made it worse.

"Marinette... are you holding a POSITIVE pregnancy test?!"

Marinette absentmindedly corrected her," yes it is pawsitive. But please don't tell anyone, I was just about to tell Adrien".

Just then Nino, who somehow missed the whole conversation, spoke.

"Dudes, do either of you find it weird that Adrien was ironing his jeans? He never irons them".

They all looked at the burned Levis. Adrien had refused to buy 'Gabriel' jeans because they 'didn't fit right'. The trio examined them more closely. There was a burn mark in the left knee, approximately 2 centimetres across. The deep blue jeans were nearly black around the actual burn mark.

Marinette sighed. "That could mean anything. The burn is on the 'left knee'. Maybe that means he 'left me'".

"Mari, you need some logic when you interpret clues," Alya pointed out, "think. Who might want Adrien out of your life?"

Nino shot up. "Wait. Black burn, dark blue jeans. Who has black hair and dark blue highlights who would benefit from Adrien being out of Mari's life?"

One name was on all of their minds.

"Luka".

**ELSEWHERE- **

Adrien looked at his shattered phone. Then he stared at the man who had destroyed it. He wore a red cape and a matching red mask with strange compound lenses at the eyes, and clutched a copy of "A Biology of Fire Ants" in his hand.

An Akuma. "Great, are you guarding me for Hawkmoth to steal my Miraculous?

"I am here to take you to Ghost Moth, who had to leave on some other business after we captured you".

"Not if I can help it," he shouted,"Plagg, claws out!"

Nothing happened. It was only then that Adrien noticed his ring was missing.

He replayed the previous events in his mind.

He recalled the following:

-He had just washed Nd dried his laundry and was ironing his button up shirts and slacks.

-Marinette snuck into the bathroom with something behind her back, and an anxious look.

-Suddenly the door broke open, and this strange red caped weirdo had fought with him as 'Ghost Moth' stood next to him and watched.

-When he saw he was going to lose, Adrien had pushed his jeans under the ironing board, praying somehow Marinette made the connection. It was a desperate ploy, but Adrien was desperate.

"And now I'm here," he thought," trapped in this cell by this loser".

"So who are you? Killer Ant? Red Death? Poison Sting?" he asked.

"Um...I...I dunno," the Akuma confessed,"Ghost Moth gave me a job and powers, and now I am making sure you don't escape until the boss returns".

As he spoke, the door swung open. "Hey, um... henchman, go get your revenge or whatever, I'm here for Adrien".

Adrien's skin crawled as the Akuma left. This person was the new Akumatizer? Ghost Moth? Now they were going to kill him, there was no way they didn'tblame him for what happened. He couldn't think of a worse fate.

"Maybe you didn't know I have feelings for you, but now we can be together," his warden said.

"Nope," he thought,"this was definitely a worse fate".

**ELSEWHERE- **

The heroes prepared to depart as they heard a cry in the streets. Alya and Nino went to check out the commotion while Marinette watched over the babies.

"Don't worry guys, Mom, Dad, and Uncle Adrien are all gonna come back, I promise," she vowed.

The babies seemed to detect a sense of uncertainty and Todd began to weep, followed by his sister. Catherine's first desperate cry was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Soon the three of them were lying on the couch bawling.

**ELSEWHERE- **

"Hey babe," Nino asked,"why did Mari give you her earrings? Couldn't she have come and one of us stayed behind?"

"She... um... isn't feeling well, I thought I could try out the Ladybug powers today," she explained, avoiding the pregnancy detail,"besides, we don't even know if there's even a real danger in Pari--"

Her last word was cut off by a car hurling towards them.

Rena jumped to the left and Carapace sprang over the sedan.

"Talk about road rage," carapace punned, as the car smashed into the street.

"Dear, leave the puns to the professionals," his wife chided.

"C'mon, it wasn't that turrtible (terrible)," he joked, sliding towards the Akuma.

"Still sub-par compared to Chat," Rena lamented. She then jumped, diving down at the villian.

The unnamed Akuma looked above and below him.

They overpowered him quickly. And then came the hard part.

Nino tore the book in half, releasing the black winged beast.

Alya spent the next 10 minutes shouting "deevilize!" while ineffectively tossing the yoyo. The poor Akuma flew around and around in a circle, dodging the violent yoyo.

Eventually she got it, and finished the process.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

Rena admitted, when she finally purified the streets and the citizens began to clap, she enjoyed the limelight.

The heroes quickly returned to Marinette and their children.

As they got there Marinette met them at the door.

"Did you find Adrien?"

They explained what happened, including the fact that they hadn't found the devilish cat.

"But it seems like this new 'Hawkmoth' is not nearly as experienced. We will have no problem getting Adrien from him," Alya promised.

"So we think it's Luka?" Nino clarified, after hearing Alya refer to the villain as 'him'.

"That's the best we have right now," Marinette said, fire gleaming in her eyes.

She would get the father of her child home safely.

**Sorry if the first chapter is short. This is what I came up with for it. Any ideas of who Ghost Moth is? Could it be Luka? Am I throwing you off by suggesting that? is this some sort of reverse psychology... maybe double reverse psychology? Does the clue make any sense? Did you notice I avoid all gender pronouns and descriptions when it comes to Adrien's captor?**

Let me know what y'all think of this chapter in the comments! More action? puns? longer chapters? Thanks so much!


	2. An East African Melody

**Chapter 2 is**** longer, also I got some advice, so I tried some new things out. I hope y'all like it. I know I enjoyed writing it.**

**Disclaimer- blah blah blah, don't own it, yada yada.**

Chapter 2- An East African Melody

Marintte marched up to the gate and thrashed her fist against the doorbell. She tapped her foot expectantly. Exasperated by the brief delay, she again slammed the doorbell.

She had only been standing at the stone gate for several seconds, but the passing of time seemed utterly disparate with Adrien gone.

She raised her clenched hand to strike the ringer again. This time the intercom interrupted her pummeling.

"Name and reason for visiting Monsieur Couffaine?" the robotic voice requested.

"I'm here for my husband," Marinette announced, not even answering the first question.

There was a pause, then the gate swung open. The fuming wife stormed through the grey bricked gateway, onto the pavement towards Luka's mansion. She glared at the scene in front of her.

Marinette was at the tip of a winding gravel road, 600 metres long (she guessed), lined with neatly squared green hedges. The ground behind the bushes revealed flowing meadows of lush grass on either side of the driveway.

As she approached Luka's home, she realised how big it was. The whole property was massive, but the home was incredible. It was five floors tall, the flat roof itself an extra floor.

She reached the porch and prepared to rap her calloused knuckles on the carved mahogany door. To her shock Luka answered, shirtless and glistening.

"Hey, Mari," he said, wiping himself with a towel," sorry, I just got out of the pool".

"Where is he?" Marinette demanded.

"W-who?" Luka asked.

"You know exactly who!" She accused.

"Um... I actually don't," he retorted.

At this point Marinette forced herself in, pressing her forearm to his chest.

Luka looked at the girl crushing him into the wall.

A guard appeared, which he quickly waved off.

"Marinette, I don't know what happened, but I promise we can figure this out".

She scanned his eyes for deceit. To her surprise she found warmth.

Kagami appeared, also dressed in swimwear.

"Wait, have you two been..." Marinette began, releasing Luka.

"Yes," the shory haired girl confirmed smugly," Lou and I have been dating. Actually, it's because of your wedding. We both went there to... Um... congratulate you... and we hit it off".

Luka looked rather uncomfortable at Kagami's possessiveness.

"Hey, wait, Kagami, you can help me. Were you here at 9 o'clock this morning?"

"I was," her former adversary replied factually.

"Oh, great! So Luka has an alibi! He wasn't the one who kidnapped Adrien," she said, half relieved, half dissatisfied with the loss of her key suspect.

As she bounded out of the door, Luka closed it.

Kagami looked at him,"I should have told her the truth".

Luka smiled weakly,"technically you didn't lie. YOU were here this morning".

Kagami was unconvinced. "You need to tell her the truth, or you can forget about us being an us. It is time for you to choose where your heart lies".

"So does that mean if I don't tell her the truth, you won't tell her either?"

Apparently that wasn't the answer Kagami wanted, because she spit out a rather offensive word, and stormed out the door.

While Luka sighed, relieved to be free from his girl, Adrien wished Marinette was with him.

"I miss you, Mari," he mumbled.

Adrien thought about what he knew. "That Person" was his captor. And they apparently "loved him", regardless of the past.

When he had been dragged here by Antman... RedAnt... the lame guy, he had carried him past a bar next door. It was called "The Lone Wolf". Maybe that would be useful, though he had no clue how to incorporate it into a clue.

He also had to reemphasize his first clue, which Marinette had probably not understood, though Adrien knew he would have to be subtle.

Adrien looked at the plain room. He had only been trapped for 7 or 8 hours, but the boredom was already killing him. The room was perhaps 3 metres by 3 metres, with a mattress covering most of the room. Adjoined was a small restroom with a sink and toilet. The walls in each room were composed of dull grey bricks.

Upon the reflection of his knowledge and analysis of the room, he saw the door open and he watched as Ghost Moth strolled in.

"My darling Kitten," the voice called,"I thought we could spend some time together".

Adrien smiled. This was his chance.

"Sure. Actually, could we listen to some music?" he begged.

"Of course," his keeper said, removing a phone from their pocket.

"Could I see it?" Adrien asked.

"Ok my Love, but no funny business. I know that the bug still has a hold on your heart. We both know she's bad news. The faster you can shake her brainwashing, the better, for both of us," Ghost Moth pleaded, a sick sense of love tinged in her words.

"So Ghost Moth also knows Marinette is Ladybug," he lamented to himself.

Adrien carefully took the phone, knowing his every keystroke was being watched, and found YouTube. He logged into his account and delicately picked a song from the list, after he typed in a search.

The music played, each plucked chord ringing a mournful song, reminding Chat of his incarceration.

"You like East African music? Much less 'mini harp' East African music?" Ghost Moth asked in surprise.

"Of course, " Adrien lied, adding the song to his playlist, hoping his plan worked.

"Ok, I guess I have to love you for who you are," the voice crooned.

The soft call left goosebumps on Adrien's neck. He hated that he had to pretend to accept this person's compliments.

When he thought he was at rock bottom, he suddenly realised he was wrong. A sickly smile spread across the villain's mouth.

"A sorry soul is ready to be akumatized".

Adrien took his chance.

"Just don't mess it up this time," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Well, you didn't even give the ant guy a name. It kinda killed the art behind Akumatizations. How is a villain supposed to be confident if they don't even have a name?" Adrien schemed,"anyways, who's getting Akumatized?"

"An old man whose family have stopped visiting him," Ghost Moth explained.

"This is too perfect," the hero thought.

"Oooh! Can I name him? I've always wanted to!"

The villain sighed. "I suppose so. After all it will be the Akuma who destroys Ladybug".

Adrien gulped, then went back to the plan, hoping thst Mari would stay safe, and also understand his clue.

"Ok, so old guy is probably confused because he is old ... and he is all by himself, so... how about 'Clueless Lonewolf'," he said proudly. Adrien poured every drop of his acting ability into looking proud of himself.

"Isn't there a better nam--" Ghost Moth stopped at the sight of Adrien's pride,"oh alright".

"Clueless Lonewolf, I... Um... Give you a power of some sort.. I dunno, something inspiring about the solitary wolf. In return I want you to eliminate Marinette Agreste".

"Yes, Ghost Moth," a gravelly voice echoed to the miraculous holder.

Adrien hoped that wherever she was, that Marinette was safe, and if possible, happier than he was.

She was not.

Marinette trudged back to the apartment.

"Time to go hom--" she stopped herself," it it isn't home".

A domicile? Sure. An abode? Why not. Maybe a dwelling? Yeah. Digs. A pad. Her place. The roof over her head. A habitation. But not a home. Home wasn't a place, it was next to Adrien. Home was Chat's puns. It was her husband's arms around her in the morning, or when she heard him sleeptalk.

Marinette let herself remember his last sleeptalking session.

"No! Ladybug you can't kiss me. I'm a married man. Marinette would be devastated. And she's you. So if you kiss me, you're only hurting yourself". He had woken up to her ongoing laughter. When she explained the situation to him, he had replied with his Chat filled cockiness.

"I guess I am so faithful I wouldn't even cheat on you with you... in a dream," he teased,"I think that deserves a little kiss?"

She had given him more than a little kiss. In fact, at 3 in the morning they had a 20 minute makeout session.

Tears streamed down her face.

"I miss you," she mourned, in silent solitude.

She gave herself a moment to breathe, then entered her apartment sporting a disingenuous smile.

Nino and Alya, who had agreed to stay with her until this was resolved, greeted her.

"How'd it go?" Alya asked hopefully.

"Not so good. I mean good that Luka has an witness as an alibi, but bad that we don't know where to go next," Marinette explained.

It was at that moment the league of heroes heard a cacophony of screams.

"Time to suit up," Marinette exclaimed.

"Are you sure YOU ARE FEELING WELL?" Alya asked, enunciating the second half of the question.

"I'm fine. I'll be careful," she promised her friend.

Alya gave her a 'this isn't smart' look, before heading out. This time around they had Alya's parents looking over the twins.

As they reached the source of panic, a man appeared. His beard was grey, and his eyes looked predatory, almost like an angry dog.

"I am Clueless Lonewolf! You will all comfort a lonely soul. I have good stories to tell!"

The trio held back chortles.

"Who.. who named you?" Nino asked between wheezes.

"Do you even have abilities?" Alya giggled.

Even Marinette took a moment to enjoy the humour.

"Hawkmoth 2 is really living in Gabriel's shadow," she taunted.

"It's Ghost Moth! And you wish you were that brilliant. And I am sure I have a power," he said anxiously,"In fact it reminds me of the time that I went fishing as a boy and thought that I had forgotten to..."

Ladybug felt her muscles relax. She was tempted to sit down and listen to the story. Carapace had already succumbed, sitting on the ground, his eyes wide. Rena resisted sitting, but she was just as transfixed on the the elderly storyteller.

"Time to hero up," Marinette told herself, resisting the alluring urge to take a seat and hear the old timer's story.

Scrolling through her yoyo's abilities, she found a new one.

"Shuriken mode!" she cried, throwing the yoyo at the hermit's cane.

It was either the Akuma's talisman, or Ladybug was about to knock an old man on the ground for no reason.

The yoyo, now a bladed weapon sliced through the cane. She pulled the string and the yoyo returned, now back in it's former shape.

"Time to deevilize!"

The following scene was a familar one.

The heroes fixed the damage, helped civilians, and returned to Marinette's apartment.

In the small living space, the group sat on the couch. They spent the next several hours talking, trying to figure out what scorched jeans meant, and how Adrien could contact them.

Marinette, eventually gave up, pulling out her phone and looking through Adrien's YouTube playlist, looking for a good song. To her surprise, she saw a recently added song.

"Guys, Adrien added a song... and it's called 'An East African Melody'," Marinette pondered.

"Maybe he had access to YouTube... He could be in East Africa?" Nino guessed.

"No, I can't explain why, but that doesn't feel right. It's like he left another clue somewhere... wait!" Mari shrieked.

"What?" The couple next to her shouted.

"CLUEless LONE WOLF. That was the Akuma's name. And we laughed, because clueless sounds so weak, but it was from Adrien, I know it. Lone Wolf is the clue".

Alya tapped at her phone, searchingly.

"There is The Lone Wolf bar nearby!"

They jumped off the couch in unison.

"Time to find Papa," Marinette whispered, patting her stomach.

**Hmm... so what the heck is Luka's secret. Is he a Red Herring, or our villain? Who knows. Are y'all excited for the upcoming rescue? Chat still doesn't know he's a Dad!**


	3. David Schwimmer

_It took me a bit, but I ended up with a chapter I was happy with. I accidentally kept using gendered pronouns for our cunning 'friend' Ghost Moth. I hope you like the end of the chapter. laughing maniacally._

_Disclaimer- I would settle for a job offer... hear that Thomas? I don't even need to own MLB, just let m work on it... please? Well, even after Mr. Astruc contacts me (he will_.._. I hope), I still won't own MLB. I also don't own the rights to the other works mentioned in this chapter, nor do I own Ellen or David Schwimmer... that would be called slavery, and is frowned upon in most societies._

**Chapter 3- David Schwimmer**

As Ghost Moth ordered Clueless Lonewolf to destroy Ladybug, Adrien stared at the wall in a mix of worry and boredom.

He knew Marinette could defeat this villain, but he was still worried. This fed into the second feeling, boredom. Adrien had no ring, and therefore no Plagg to talk to. He also had no TV, his phone lay in pieces on the ground, and Ghost Moth was more interested in Ladybug's defeat than spending time with "their Love".

"Pfft," Adrien thought,"This person doesn't understand love. If Marinette has taught me anything, it is that love is spelled T-I-M-E ".

Adrien vowed to shower his princess in attention, affection and adoration as soon as he was reunited with her.

"Hey, do you have anything to do?" he mumbled to his captor.

"Could you be a dear and start a kettle of tea?" that nauseatingly sweet voice called, still half attending to the battle, they halfheartedly pointed to a kettle and hot pad, a half dozen packets of tea beside them.

Adrien, in an attempt to banish the lingering sense of ennui, set off to the task, pouring over the possible ingredients.

Adrien decided on a mix of raspberry-hibiscus and chamomile, one of his favourites. Then he returned to his warden, hoping for another task.

They absentmindedly handed him a stack of magazines. "Here, make a collage, or read them, or something. Then once I've made sure to squash this bug, we can spend some quality time together".

Adrien shuddered, then began to read through them. Some old literature was in the stack. It consisted of celebrity weddings, Disney catalogs, and even a firearms magazine.

Adrien gulped. He hoped Ghost Moth wasn't in the market for a gun.

He shook off the sense of dread, and decided to act productively. "A collage could be a good clue," he ruminated.

If his plan worked, the collage would be unnecessary, but if it not, hopefully he would be able to get Purrrincess this clue. At the very least it would address mundane period of time.

Delicately he cut each magazine with the scissors provided to him, gluing objects and celebrities into a clue, while maintaining a sense of aesthetic in his piece.

By the time he had finished, the heroes had beat Ghost Moth's second Akuma. Carefully he slipped the scissors into his pocket.

The villain screamed in rage, then turned at Adrien. "Lone... Wolf... Bar," they spoke, realisation of Adrien's clue appearing witin their mind. Ghost Moth scowled and stormed out of the room.

Adrien placed the last touch on the collage, a single heart, with three little words inscribed in it. He suddenly heard the door reopen.

Ghost Moth walked behind him. Adrien only had a moment to wonder what was going on before he suddenly detected a sickly-sweet chemical smell.

"I hope Marinette makes it here soon," he thought, as the chloroform worked its magic.

Marinette and crew were hurrying, as they launched out of the apartment door, barely pausing to transform, before again racing to their destination.

The heroine savoured the gentle crunch of gravel beneath her foot. Each crackle was a symphony dedicated to Adrien's return. A reminder that she was almost home. That her little family would be whole again.

The group screeched to a halt as they reached The Lone Wolf Bar. It was then that a thought dawned on them as they beheld the sight. They didn't know where to go from here.

The bar lay ahead, its neon sign beckoning the newcomers. To the right stood a 3-story apartment complex, and to the left a warehouse. Directly opposite of the bar were some storage units.

"So... did Adrien happen to say where he was in any level of exactness? You know any psychic visions or anything?" Nino offered rather facetiously.

Alya snapped at him before Marinette could even process what was happening.

"If she could, she wouldn't need to drag someone like you around, would she?"

Marinette didn't even notice the fight. She scanned the windows, hoping to see her blond kitty banging on a window, or waving in urgency.

Nino cast his eyes downward in silence.

Mari continued her search. "Maybe he left footprints on the ground somewhere," she thought, looking for clues.

"Sorry, Babe. I didn't mean to snap at you," Alya apologized,"I know you joke around when you get worried".

"It's ok," he admitted,"I still shouldn't have said it".

Marinette interrupted the dialogue.

"We should split up. Ni--Carapace, check the bar, Rena, you have the storage units. I've got the warehouse. If someone finishes they can check the flats over there".

Ladybug took off in the direction of the warehouse. It looked rather old, and when she checked the door, she found the iron lock had corroded long ago. Sliding the door open slightly, she slipped through.

Pallet after pallet lined the massive room. A deep breath of musty air told her that this building had likely been out of use for some time, so she continued, checking behind each empty container and overturned crate.

"I wonder how Alya is doing," she wondered.

Rena was walking along the rows of storage units. Each concrete building had 5 garage doors mounted to them, and it looked like there were maybe 8 buildings.

"40 units, I can do that," she muttered unconfidently.

If she had been an officer of the law, she would have to obtain a warrant for each unit. As a vigilante-hero, though, she merely had to find a way it.

Crossing the cobblestone path, she spotted what appeared to be an office.

Time to work her illusionary magic.

"I excuse me, I'm Officer... Nalya," she claimed, using her powers to don a police uniform and a folder full of documents,"these are warrants to search each of your units.

The elderly man behind the counter nodded, and grabbed the keys.

An hour later she had found nothing (other than a homeless man living in one unit).

She ran to the apartment at the same time as Ladybug and Carapace.

"Did you guys find anything?" Ladybug asked.

"No," Alya responded glumly.

Carapace looked more cheerful.

"I just met one guy at the bar who says he saw a dude get carried into that aparment today. And it was by a fellow in a red ant suit".

That was good enough for them. The trio ran into the building, each separating to check a floor of the dimly lit structure. As they did so, two elderly women heading towards the entrance made way for the heroes.

The first woman held her head low, her straight silver bangs hiding her eyes. She pushed the second sleeping senior in a wheelchair. Her bonnet and curly white hair covered most of her face, and a Chat Noir blanket adorned her lap.

Normally the heroes would have gladly helped, but they were on a mission, and time was of the essence.

Ladybug sprinted to the basement, noting how the building was particularly old. The stairs were wooden, and the walls were made of grey bricks.

She made her way to the building's basement. Ladybug instantly detected one of the two basement rooms had an open door.

The scarlet-clad woman ran to the dimly lit room. Warily, she entered in a combative stance, ready for anything. The "flat" was only a small room with a kitchenette (or rather a hot plate) and a connected bathroom. The only signs the room had been occupied were a single collage and a steeping tea, raspberry-hibiscus and chamomile (Adrien's favourite), steam still ascending from the piping hot beverage.

"They were just here," Marinette surmised, slowly putting the pieces together.

She sprinted up the stairs, urgency fueling her weary body. Adrenaline encouraged her, and within seconds she made it to the building entrance.

Discarded on the ground were two wigs -one grey and one white- and a Chat Noir blanket; Ghost Moth had snuck Marinette's Chaton right past her.

A mere five minutes passed in real time, but Marinette felt as if the world had frozen. Nothing moved, not really. Children rode bicycles past her, but their laughter was painted in deceit. Lovers strolled along the road, hand in hand, but their love was a blatant lie. She experienced a bout of nausea, but even that was false.

"Morning sickness only happens to pregnant women," she whispered,"and I can't be pregnant. Not without Chat". By the time his beautiful name passed her lips, she was in tears.

Rena found her friend moments later.

"No signs of anything suspicious upsta--" she began," Mar... um... Ladybug are you ok?"

"T-they snuck Chat right past us," she said gesturing to the wigs,"and I can't do this. I can't have a baby. Not without him". Another volley of tears tore past her cheeks.

"Marinette, it's oka--" Alya stopped. She had had enough experience is journalism by this point to know "it's okay" is a poor choice of words.

She ammended her consolation. "Ladybug, we are gonna get through this. We WILL find him. If not today, then tomorrow, or the next time. Until then, Nino and I will be there for you. We won't abandon you, even if it means you coming to live with us til we figure this whole thing out. Though I warn you, Nino snores".

Nino, who had just made it down to the building door, stopped. "Hey! I thought we agreed to keep that secret?"

This prompted both girls to laugh, despite the gloom that overshadowed them.

"Dude, you may be my husband, but she's my babe. Any secret I have, she has," Alya said in support of her friend.

Nino grinned wickedly. "Well in that case we should probably tell her you spend 10 minutes every morning washing your feet until the smell is tolerable".

Alya's mouth dropped and Marinette laughed again.

Eventually the group recovered (after a barrage of insignificant secrets were traded. "Nino has hairy feet", "Alya sometimes forgets the colours of the national flag", "Nino had a pet rock and thought it was alive until he was 15", "Alya thought tuna was a vegetable as a child". Eventually Marinette laughed hard enough that Alya mentioned her "backup plan" as a young teen. "That if Adrien ever rejected her, she would make a move on Jagged Stone").

By that point everyone was grinning sheepishly, both relishing the secrets at their friends' expense, and embarrassed by their own flaws.

"Ok, now should we go back, and look for clues?" Alya suggested gently.

"Mhm," Marinette agreed.

They returned to find a collage.

"Ok, so the scene is Ellen DeGeneres's wedding, but David Schwimmer is... robbing them with a gun... and he has Mr. Incredible's mask ans supersuit on?... Um so I guess that makes Adrin Ellen (because fabulous blonde) , and you are Portia... does that mean David Schwimmer or Mr Incredible kidnapped Adrien?" Nino guessed.

The little heart scrawled on the page, with "I love you" scratched inside reached into her heart, filling it with warmth.

"No," Marinette responded,"Adrien wouldn't make some convoluted story full of symbolism. It would be more subtle, around the lines of Schwimmer plays Ross Geller in 'Friends', so something like..." she trailed off, stopping what she was about to say.

"Wedding. Gun. Friends," she thought.

Marinette connected the dots. One of her married friends was holding Adrien hostage.

**Maybe Mari interpreted that wrong? or maybe not?**

**With this new clue, who do we think is the fiend?**

**And where is Chat's ring?**

**Could Chat please give better hints?**

**And the rescue operation was so close! Do any of you realise that if LB had offered to help the old lady push her friend, she could have figured out who Ghost Moth was, and found Adrien? Ugh. That would have cut out so many chapters.**

**Anyways, I hope y'all don't hate me yet.**


	4. Blue's Clues

_Sorry, everyone. With school being tough, I was a bit slow on my writing today._

_Also just to let y'all know- I have started writing a new story called "Into The Forest: The Miraculous and the Misfortunate". I'm writing it with my wonderful friend and coauthor Littlemixup. If y'all want to check it out it's on her list of stories._

_I hope you like it. And enjoy finding out where Chat's ring went (looking at you Epcot)._

**Chapter 4- Blue's Clues**

Adrien had been missing for three days, and this lead Marinette into complete panic. As a result, no one was above suspicion.

Marinette went through the list of those who fit the criteria in her head.

"Married friends..." she wondered,"who are our married friends?"

Nino.

Alya.

Chloe.

Ivan.

Mylène.

Kim.

Ondine...?

Marinette wasn't sure if Kim's wife counted as a "friend". She was more like a "good aquaintence"?

She shrugged and added her to the list. As she repeated the names, a thought occured to her.

"What if Ellen's wedding was supposed to represent our wedding? Then it could mean a single friend who was with us when we got married".

That could mean a lot of people, so Marinette stuck to the most suspicious people at the wedding.

Luka, who went from homeless bum to wealthy wedding crasher.

Kagami, the girl she had never trusted.

Nathalie was also included. After all, she went from Gabriel's loyal assistant of many years to being his lovestruck girl in a matter of months

Nino. Alya. Chloe. Ivan. Mylène. Kim. Ondine. Luka. Kagami. Nathalie.

The names clung to the back of her mind.

Marinette sat on her couch, pondering the situation.

"Criminals need motive, means, and opportunity," the woman thought, remembering a crime show's explanation.

She wrote the names on a board and began to think.

Alya would need motive... could she be in love with Adrien? That would be strange, but she accepted it as a temporary motive.

Did Alya have means? Yes. With her Miraculous she could beat Adrien, if he wasn't suspecting it.

Marinette thought about the last point. Opportunity. Alya had made it to her house in 5 minutes... Alya could have been close enough to abduct her husband.

**Suspect #1 Alya Lahiffe**.

Nino... could he have a motive? Jealousy? Marinette considered the past. Gasping, she realised that Nino had had feelings for her all those years ago when she and Adrien had fought Animan... but he had left that crush for Alya...right? There is no way her friend was a consolation prize... right?

Marinette checked the motive box by Nino anyways. You can never be too careful.

Did he have the strength? Of course he did. With his Miraculous, and the element of suprise, Nino could disable his friend easily.

Now to opportunity. Nino had taken longer to show up to her house, but then again, she had no clue how long Adrien could have been missing.

"It is quite possible he could have kidnapped him, then returned home before Alya got my call," Marinette mused.

**Suspect #2 Nino Lahiffe**.

Up next was Chloe. Did she have motive?

Marinette considered her sudden change of heart at the wedding. Chloe had begun to say "Adrikens" then cut herself off... hiding jealousy perhaps?

Marinette decided it was a possibility, and continued. Did she have means? She no longer held a miraculous, but she could easily hire a henchman.

Marinette was unsure if Chloe had returned to America. For now, she assumed Chloe had not.

**Suspect #3 Chloe Bourgeois**.

After Chloe was Ivan. He had no apparent motive whatsoever, so Marinette scratched his name off the board.

Myléne? She seemed just as content with Ivan as he was with her. And unlike her husband she definitely didn't have the strength to tear a door down. A second name was crossed out.

Then Kim. Last she had heard, his marriage was a little rocky... maybe he was jealous of what the group of Collège Françoise Dupont Alumni called "the perfect couple".

He was definitely strong enough, as he was gifted with a muscular build, and worked hard to maintain it as a professional bodybuilder.

Shd had no clue where he lived now, so she decided that he might very well have had the chance to kidnap her husband.

**Suspect #4 Lê Chiến Kim**.

His wife, Ondine seemed relatively innocent. She had no apparent motive, and while she was strong, she didn't have door tearing muscles. Another scratch.

At this point Marinette reached the blue haired devil's name. Luka Couffaine. He most definitely had a motive. He was acutely jealous of Adrien. Luka had become quite muscular since his rise to stardom. Whether or not he was at door-rending strength was debatable, but it was a moot point; he had an alibi.

Which brought Marinette to the next name: Kagami Tsurugi. If she was Luka's alibi, it stood to reason that he was her alibi as well.

Two more names found themselves with strike marks through them.

As Marinette scratched their names out, Luka and Kagami began to talk some kilometres away.

"If you really want this plan to work, you have to tell her, " Kagami said, reaching for his hands.

He accepted them, looking at her pensively.

"Luka. Do you really want the plan to work?" She questioned, noticing his penetrating gaze.

"Um... yeah. Yes, I do," he assured her, as well as himself,"I'll go tonight, and tell her everything".

Kagami looked nervous, but responded clearly. "Well you don't need to tell her EVERYTHING," she stated,"some things might be better to avoid". Her last phrase seemed a bit cryptic.

Luka nodded, his head, though to be honest, he wasn't completely sure what was going on.

As Marinette continued her list at her flat, she also found herself confused.

Nathalie was the last name on the list. Perhaps she was jealous of all the attention Gabriel gave to his son? It seemed strange as Gabriel was out of the country, and had chosen to take Nathalie with him, but perhaps she felt her boyfriend (they had officially started dating a month after the wedding) still paid too much attention to his son.

She was quite tech savvy, and it wouldn't astonish Marinette if she had a technological way to smash the door open and incapacitate Adrien.

And while she was officially "gone" she frequently returned to Paris while on trips with Gabriel.

Marinette smiled, thinking how awkward it would be for Gabriel to need to ask his assistant to fly to a different country to pick up something he forgot, especially when he was dating her.

"Focus," she reminded herself.

**Suspect #5 Nathalie Sancoeur**.

The heroine took a moment to envision herself as a detective, pouring through her thoughts for any other suspicious characters.

Two came to mind.

The first was Nathaniel Kurtzberg. She had seen him intermittently throughout the last several years. Every time she saw him it was obvious that his childhood crush had not yet faded (including st the wedding). However, while he may have a motive, he definitely didn't have the physical strength.

She moved to the other name, Lila Rossi.

Lila was sickly in love with Adrien. So much so that she had spent over 2 years in a psychiatric ward for trying to kill a model who had idly flirted with him.

She by no means had the strength to break down the door, but with her ability to "adjust the truth" she could easily persuade someone else to do it for her.

The only thing missing point was opportunity. Marinette was fairly certain that Lila was still required to stay at the institution.

She made a mental note to check with the hospital to see if anything had changed, hoping that Lila was not a suspect.

"If Lila has Kitty, we are all screwed," Marinette thought.

Adrien looked at his captor. "I'm screwed," he thought to himself.

"Hey, um... 'Sweety'," he choked,"have you ever seen Blues Clues? You know the little kids show?"

"No," they replied, "why?"

"I was just thinking about something I wanted to show you from it... do you have your phone on you by chance?"

His 'warden' reluctantly handed him the phone, and Adrien typed in the show's name on YouTube, saving it to his playlist before picking a random result.

Of course his real reason was to give Marinette a hint; A rather simple one. That he was in fact leaving her clues, and that these seemingly random things weren't actually random coincidences.

After watching he commented, "wouldn't you love to just live in a cute little house like that, not worried about city life or the cares of the world?"

"Um sure, I guess. Anywhere is good, as long as it is with you, Adrien". The response sent a tingle down his spine.

"Anyways, I need to leave for a quick errand dear. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to lock you in the room".

"Where is here?" He asked as the villain was leaving.

They smiled. "That's the thing about living in a mansion, you don't even recognize parts of your own home. But don't worry, we'll be leaving before Gabriel returns".

Adrien and Marinette groaned in frustration, though kilometres apart.

"Why are Nino and my names circled on a list?" A voice asked from behind Marinette.

"No reason," she squeaked, tucking the paper under a newspaper on the coffee table.

Alya shot her a distrustful glance and removed the newspaper.

She read the columns.

Suspect.

Motive.

Means.

Opportunity.

Marinette almost fainted when, after a moment of silence, Alya began to laugh.

It began as a chuckle and ended as a roaring guffaw.

"Y-you... hahahahhaha, you think that I might h-hav-- hahahahhahahahhaha... you think I could have kdinapped hahahahhaha Adrien? Me?" Alya held up her arms to show two small biceps protruding.

"Wow, Mari, I didn't realize you were THAT paranoid! I mean good list of suspects...but my motive is 'in love with Adrien?"? Like, I didn't like him when we first met him, I didn't like him when I saw his face plastered through the city. I didn't like him when I married Nino. Or when I forced two beautiful babies out of my body. I can say with 100% sincerity that Adrien 'is just a friend'".

The two girls burst out laughing, and Nino entered the small living room.

"In her worry Marinette branded us as suspects," Alya explained, gesturing to the paper.

Nino chuckled and tried to join in the laughs.

"No worries Mari. I was just reading a fan fiction, did you know people write fan fictions about you and Chat Noir?"

He realized he didn't finish his story and continued,"Anyways, in this fiction I really like, your civilian persona gets pregnant from a one night stand with Chat Noir. Fiction you learns who Chat is as a civilian, and like real life you actually know him. But he is in love with Ladybug, so he tries the 'just friends' thing with the civilian you, not realizing he is gonna be a dad. So story-you doesn't tell him. It is sooo good, dude".

Marinette looked in confusion, wondering what his point was.

"So basically, it could always be worse. You could secretly be pregnant and not able to tell Adrien because of extraneous circumstances," he offered.

Marinette began to cry the unintentionally cutting remark, and Alya elbowed him in the ribs.

"Nice going," she hissed, shooing him away.

However, while her elbow and voice told him to go away, her eyes communicated, "send me the link to that fan fiction".

He walked off and Alya soothed her friend.

"I'm sorry, Nino didn't know. It's ok Marinette, I bet Adrien is going to knock on the door at any moment".

Knock. Knock.

Marinette ran to the door, and threw it open (an unwise decision for the recently repaired door).

In the faded evening starlight stood a silhouette. One that she recognized. One that she loved.

She loved the shaggy hair, and the cat ears, and the sleek black costume.

As Chat opened his mouth to speak, she ran to him.

Without thinking she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in for a deep kiss; the most passionate she could offer.

Marinette felt her tongue slide across his, and he returned the motion. She placed one hand on his chest and the other behind his cat ear, scratching it softly. This caused him to let out a low gravely purr.

She stopped. This was all wrong. His lips were dryer, his tongue more muscular, and his mouth tasted different (if that could even be possible, she thought). His hair felt more oily, and even his purr sounded different.

Marinette pulled back and examined the hero more closely in the dim light. Instead of a golden blond, his hair was a dark indigo.

"Marinette, we need to talk," Luka's unmistakeable voice whispered.

Bonus scene (which is also an advertisement for a fanfic I really like):

"H-hey, Nino... um about that fan fiction..."

"You want to read it don't you," he grinned.

"Yeah, I'm actually kind of embarrassed that I read fanfictions of our friends," she admitted,"but a universe where Chat gets Mari preggers, then rejects her for her?! I need to read it".

"Babe, it is awesome, you have no idea. It's called 'Secret Kitten', it's on fanfiction under the author 'gusswhojoedoe".

"Thanks Nino".

"Oh and one more thing. Don't get upset and throw your phone at the wall. I don't want to have to run to the store and get a new one right now".

Alya laughed, wondering why she would ever get so upset.

An hour later Nino heard shouting in the other room, followed by a crash.

"YOU IDIOT! SHE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU DUMB CAT!"

Alya walked into the living room. "I'm gonna head to the store real quick... I need to buy something".

"Uh-huh".

**ok... so this was a waste of Adrien's clue.**

**Luka has the ring? and Marinette kissed him?!**

**Who do we suspect now? Could Lila have escaped or is that the author being a sneaky trickster?**

**We now have a list of official suspects. (btw, I think it goes without saying, but Nino and Alya have been absolved... or have they?).**


	5. Spaghettaly

**_Yay! another chapter! who is excited. I can't wait to see what the guesses of who our evil villain is in the comments._**

**_Disclaimer- On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being I don't own MLB and 10 being I am the sole owner of all things related to Ladybug, I am standing at a solid negative two._****Chapter 5: Spaghettaly**

Marinette froze.

"L-l-luka?" She guessed.

"In the flesh! By the way, you're an excellent kisser".

He waited for a response, staring at her in the evening light. The only thing he heard was a thunk. The glimmering stars grew dimmer and dimmer until they seemed to disappear.

Everything was replaced with blackness.

As he slowly regained consciousness, Luka was aware he was being dragged-- at a weird angle.

"Perhaps I'm in a chair," he pondered. As he tried to move, he noticed he was bound to the what he was now fairly certain was a chair.

"Heh mmee-e wuh hguhing awe?" He mumbled. Luka frowned. He had meant to say, "hey Mari, what's going on?", but he was only now realizing that he was gagged.

As his vision began to return, he saw 4 silhouetted figures perched above him.

No wait, 3 people and a showerhead.

"Now listen up," Nino roared, "we are going to find out what you did to Adrien, even if it kills you". Nino proceeded to cover his face with a towel.

"Wait, does it matter how hot the water is for waterboarding?" Alya asked.

"I don't think so," Nino replied nonchalantly,"but try hot".

Luka tried to scream as he felt the scalding water pour over the cloth. It began as drops and quickly absorbed into the cotton towel. As he prepared to struggle against the current of water, the flow suddenly stopped.

"Ok," Marinette said uneasily,"so now we just let it soak and he tells us the answer?"

Alya shrugged. "Something like that. Nino, are you sure we only needed 100mL of water for this?"

"That's all it took in the action movie," he confirmed.

"If you say so," came the reply, as the group walked into the other room.

After 10 minutes the crew returned.

"I think it wasn't enough," Alya noted confidently,"I'll go get some more water".

Marinette stopped her.

"Wait, I know we need to get this done, but I'm going to wash his hair while we're at it. It looks disgusting, and I don't think Adrien will appreciate a dirty bathtub when he gets back".

She tried to sound confident that Adrien would return, hoping her words and actions would weaken Luka's resolve.

Alya found herself at the sink, filling up the measuring cup as Marinette washed the greasy black and blue hair.

After 10 minutes of cleaning, they were finally ready to add the second cup of water, not realizing they could have used the showerhead much more effectively then adding water a cup at a time.

This time the sound of laughter permeated the damp cloth as they poured.

"Time for pulling out nails," Nino said," looking at the 'action movie torture list' on his phone". The laughing stopped quite suddenly.

Alya smiled. "I've got this one".

As she grasped the tweezers, she picked the edge of his left big toenail. The whole foot gave off a rank odour, making Alya regret her decision to volunteer. The toenail in question was a yellowed, overly large nail, and it tore as she yanked.

Luka grunted a rather unfriendly word, though it was hard to discern.

"Ready to talk, Lu..." Marinette trailed off,"Nino, you removed the gag before we started, right?"

"Um... was I supposed to?" He asked bashfully.

Marinette removed the towel, and unfastened the gag.

"Are you ready to talk?"

"Well since you were kind enough to wash my hair, give me a hot towel treatment, remove a hangnail that has been killing me for weeks, and wash my feet, sure".

"We didn't wash your--" Marinette looked down to see Alya had retrieved the discarded towel and was in fact wiping Luka's feet.

"Sorry girl, but these reek".

The trio returned their attention to Luka.

"Ok, here's the story", he began.

"A few days ago, when Adrien went missing... " he stopped," shoot, I don't know which part I was supposed to skip".

Marinette offered a quizzical look.

"Kagami said I should tell the truth, but that I shouldn't tell you everything... I can't remember if she specifically told me what to not tell you... but I guess since you three are willing to pamper me... I mean torture me for information, I can tell you everything... besides, I couldn't hide the truth from you, Beautiful".

The group groaned.

"Ok, Luka, less flirty more explainy," Alya ordered.

"Ok, so umm... I was stopping by your house to ... te oo tha im in lu wuh oo" he mumbled.

"What?" Marinette asked.

"Uh, can you two leave," he asked, looking at Alya and Nino.

"No way!"

"In your dreams dude".

Marinette gave her friends a look.

"I guess we should check on the twins," Alya excused, grabbing Nino, and closing the bathroom door.

"Um... Marinette, I didn't get over you. I was coming over here to admit I was still in love with you".

"Oh". The word tumbled out of her mouth.

"Oh," Adrien said,"are you sure we need to go to Italy?"

"Yes my sweet Kitty. I'm sure Marinette will piece toegether my plan, and there is nowhere in France I could hide you to keep you safe from her".

Adrien nodded. "So when's our flight?"

"Let's just say we need to wake up early".

Adrien heaved out a sigh. "Listen, I get it, you have a miraculous and I don't. You could easily overpower me. But frankly, I don't know if I'll make it to a different country on an empty stomach. Can I please go to the kitchen and make something to eat?"

His captor furrowed their brow, and thought before speaking. "Listen, Adrien, my Love, I don't know what happened to your ring. But we can go make dinner... together".

The warden extended their hand, which Adrien graciously took, though it pained him to do so.

As he walked down the hallway, Adrien quelled a shudder. "Models can act. You don't like them. Models can act" he repeated to himself.

As he made his way into the kitchen he had an idea.

He retrieved a box of durum wheat spaghetti, made in Italy.

"Ahhh," he shouted as he poured the entire package of pasta on the floor.

"Adrien, please tell me you didn't spill the spaghetti all over the floor?" A voice begged.

"Um... sorta," he admitted, pretending the incident was accidental,"don't worry, we have more and the maid will clean it when father gets back from his trip".

While his personal warden was turned away, he pushed the spaghetti into a pile, roughly shaped like an arrow pointed southeast. He scratched a fingernail into the box, directly below the claim "made in Italy". Then tossed it next to the makeshift clue.

His captor looked relieved to not have to clean. "Ok, just tell me your manners are better than your coordination".

Adrien smiled. Make that two ideas.

"Um, maybe you could pull something up on your phone? I don't remember enough about table manners?"

"This isn't a trick is it?" The warden asked disapprovingly.

"How could asking you to search manners on YouTube do anything?" He responded slyly.

After about 10 seconds of staring, they relented and picked a video "Manners 101".

The video played, telling Adrien a list of things he already knew, though he pretended to have forgotten or not known many rules. As th video closed he began to fret- or at least act the part.

"I don't know if I'll remember all those, can you save them?"

With a flick of a finger, the video was saved and a vague hint was sent.

Adrien quickly prepared the spaghetti, this time avoiding the spill that had occurred earlier.

As they sat down to eat, Adrien tried to mind his manners, while still making the occasional mistake.

The captor gently reminded him of his mistakes, then tried to comfort him.

"But it's ok Adrien. Sure you used the wrong fork, but not everyone uses forks. In fact, while I was in Japan, most people I met didn't use forks".

Adrien nodded solemnly, pretending to be hurt.

Now it was time to go double or nothing.

Yeah, I guess I'm just down because I haven't caught up on my favorite show. I know it's dumb".

"Oh I'm sorry, what is it mon trésor?" The kidnapper cooed, removing their phone from their pocket.

"Um it's silly... Meerkat Manor. I don't know if you've heard of it?" he said, acting utterly downtrodden.

"Oh, the old animal planet show. I'm sure we can find it online". The fiend had now wrapped Adrien in a snuggle, and help up the phone.

Meerkat Manor

They hit the search button and Adrien pointed to YouTube.

"That's it! You found it!" He said, simultaneously hugging the person he had once thought of as a friend so many years ago. Adrien ignore the pang of nausea that accompanied the sickening act of affection.

After an episode snuggled up to his enemy, Adrien finally spoke again. "

Can you save it here? I think I'm going to head to bed, you know, make sure I'm rested for the flight".

As he walked back to the bedroom, the warden followed closely behind. He expected them to see him to the door, but instead they used a key to lock the door from the inside. From there they followed him all the way in and curled up next to him.

Adrien felt his skin crawl as they fell asleep.

It had only been an hour or two, but Marinette felt like it had been years. Luka was in love with her. He had stalked her!

After the initial shock had worn off, Luka had explained more in detail.

"So there I was walking up to your house when some big muscly akuma dude breaks down your door and grabs Adrien".

Marinette stared, hoping that more information would accompany the statement.

"I think someone was walking next to him, but the sun was in my eyes. Anyhow, when I went to check, I saw your house was a bit worse for wear, but it was obvious you were safe in the bathroom. As I was leaving to go report what I had seen, I found Chat's secret object, the one he uses to become a hero. I guess it must have slipped off in the action".

Marinette stared more intently.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you're married to Chat Noir. Anyways, it doesn't matter anymore, because I'm the new Chat Noir".

"And what makes you think any of us will let you take the ring?" She asked, suddenly seething on the inside.

"Plagg, claws out! How do you expect to stop me..." Luka looked at his untransformed body, then at his ringless hand.

"Sorry, kid, but now that you don't own my miraculous I don't need to take orders from you," Plagg said, phasing through the wall, a chunk of camembert in hand.

Luka sighed. "Probably for the best. I may have the fame and riches, but let's be honest, people only like me for my music. Even Kagami has been acting weird around me lately".

The girl froze. "Why?"

"I dunno, ever since a few days ago, she has just been acting strange".

Marinette remembered tidbit of information, then proceeded to untie Luka.

"If you remember anything else, let us know".

Luka touched his rope burned hands, then nodded and walked away, his head hung low.

As the door closed, Alya, Nino and two infants appeared around the corner.

"You guys heard everything, huh?"

"Yeah," Alya admitted," crazy, huh?"

Marinette began to shake her head, then stopped.

She had developed a habit of constantly checking Adrien's YouTube account for activity. She had just found two videos. Meerkat Manor and Manners 101.

"I think Adrien left us another clue".

**_There are some clues here that could point to several different people._**

**_So, who is our mystery fiend?_**


	6. Broken Clocks and Oranges

**Hey y'all, sorry for the wait. I've been a little uninspired as of late, but I really want the best quality for the story. I hope you like what I came up with.**

_**Disclaimer- ok, so I have a plan.**_

_**1)Get rich quick.**_

_**2)Wait for zag entertainment to sell stocks publicly.**_

_**3) BUY THEM ALL!**_

_**until then... you know the drill.**_

**Chapter 6- Broken Clocks and Oranges **

The trio gathered around Marinette's phone. They stared at the small rectangular screen, looking at the recently watched history.

"Play 'Manners 101' first since Adrien watched it first," Nino suggested.

They watched the video in near silence. The only sound was a light scratching sound that Marinette and Nino ignored.

As the video concluded, they looked at Alya to see she was the source of then scratching. She had written every word in the entire video.

"Babe, did you just write the entire script of an instructional video about table manners?"

Alya nodded. "You have to write fast if you want to get everything out of an interview."

"Or you could just record it," Nino said snarkily.

"Well reporters don't always have that luxury. Sometimes people don't like recording devices."

Alya was near fuming and Nino was halfway there himself. Of course Marinette didn't notice. She was going over Alya's transcription, searching every word for an imaginary clue.

"Maybe we should move to Meerkat Manor?" she suggested, hoping there was a clue in the episode Adrien had watched.

The trio repeated the process, though this time Nino interrupted the video.

"Alya, do you really have to write so loudly?"

"Well, Nino, maybe I could just grab one of my silent pencils... oh wait, that's all of them because pencils barely even make sound! Shouldn't you be half deaf from all your loud DJing anyways? How can you hear a pencil scribble you--"

"Akuma!" Marinette screamed, pointing at the window.

The pair instantly went silent and stared out the window.

"Where is it?" Nino asked worriedly. She could see him inhaling deeply, trying to rid himself of negative emotions. Alya was emulating his meditative actions.

"I dunno, I haven't seen one all day," Marinette shrugged,"I just wanted you two to think about how much worse our situation could get if you didn't stop fighting and one of us got akumatized. After all, it could happen."

"Sorry, Alya," Nino said, hanging his head in shame.

Alya softly placed a hand on his chin, raising his downcast eyes to meet her own.

"Hey, mon trésor, it's ok. We're all worried about Adrien. I think it's getting to all of us," Alya comforted.

The trio talked a bit more over the coffee table, and discussed possible suspects.

"Well I don't think I'm a suspect," Nino said half jokingly as he stared at Marinette's whiteboard of suspects.

"Yeah, sorry for accusing you two," Marinette apologized,"I didn't know who I could trust."

Chloe. Kim. Kagami. Nathalie. Lila.

The names stuck out at the small group. The obvious suspects, their best bets.

"Ok," Marinette decided, distributing papers to her friends,"let's try this. Each of us ranks the suspects 1 to 5, with 1 being the most suspicious and 5 being the least."

The group each went to work, picking their suspects.

Alya was the first one done, it took her about 5 seconds. Marinette was slightly behind her at 15 seconds or so. Nino was at a minute, but kept scribling out two numbers are replacing them. Finally he seemed somewhat satisfied, and "turned in" his paper.

(First number is Alya, second is Mari, third is Nino)

Chloe 424=10

Kim 542=11

Kagami 211=4

Nathalie 353=11

Lila 135=9

The trio tallied up the points.

1- Kagami

2- Lila

3- Chloe

4- Nathalie

4- Kim

Nino stared at the names.

"You think Lila is a suspect? Isn't she still locked up in the crazy hut?" he pointed out.

His wife gave him a simple stare. "And we all know that Lie-la would never try to escape, huh?" She said condescendingly,"plus, what's with giving Kim a 2? He's probably the least suspicious person on the list."

Nino was starting to get mad again. This time, instead of arguing further, he stood up, effortlessly turned, and marched away, slamming the door in the process.

Alya let out a protesting "humpf" and slammed the bathroom door herself.

Marinette sighed and stared at the ground.

"Mew!"

Marinette smiled as she turned her head to see Kokomo, Adrien's kitten, standing at her side. She patted her lap, and the feline lept, landing on her legs.

"Kokomo, how is it that the exhausted pregnant woman, whose husband is missing, is supposed to be the responsible one? Shouldn't Alya and Nino be helping ME through mood swings?"

"Mew."

Plagg appeared from the kitchen, leaving the other Kwami, in order to talk to Marinette.

"Kokomo said 'Screw Nino' ... that or 'Nino needs to take a bath'. Koko kinda has a weird almost Bavarian accent. My guess is a feline ancestor called southern Germany home," Plagg informed before floating back to the kitchen, not bothering to clarify further.

"Home," she thought, "such a strange word."

Marinette could feel sleep pull at her eyes. Manner... Manor... home... surely there was some connection. Maybe sleep would help her figure it out.

"Yeah, bedtime. That sounds nice," Marinette thought before drifting off on the couch.

Adrien woke up several kilometres away from his beloved wife. The sun had yet to rise on the new day. He stared at the sleeping villain centimetres from his face. Carefully he pulled himself off of the bed. He looked back to see Ghost Moth still asleep under the covers. He crept to the door, only to hear a floorboard creak under his weight. He turned to see his captor sound asleep. He silently turned the doorknob. When it remained rigid, a cold realisation washed over him.

"Ghost Moth has the key," he thought dismally, remembering the events of night before.

With silence reminiscent of a ninja Adrien made his way to Ghost Moth.

He took a moment to examine his foe. She was a little shorter than him, though not by too much. She had beautiful hair and a soft pretty face. Adrien couldn't help but think that she was physically beautiful, even if she was an evil psychopath.

He felt around her jacket - strange that she wore a jacket to bed- and her pants. He looked at the jacket, studying it. Attached to the right side was the hawkmoth brooch. He tried to unpin it, but it held fast. A further examination showed why.

She had glued it to the jacket. "So that's why she wears the jacket to bed. In case she needs to make a quick transformation".

There was no sign of a key. And then he saw a string tied around her neck.

"Forgive me Mari," he whispered, cautiously reaching a hand down the captor's shirt. His hand trembled as he tried to grab the key without touching any part of her.

In a sudden act of utter horror, she shifted ever so slightly onto her side pinning Adrien's hand between the bed and her chest.

Her eyes fluttered open and a soft smile spread across her face.

"Couldn't resist me any longer, hmm?"

The hero's face was ladybug red. At this moment Adrien was praying for a quick and painless death. Actually, at this point quick and painful would do. A heart attack, an aneurism, a stroke, something.

When it didn't he forced a plastered-on model smile.

"Y-yeah. You know... you-you looked so beautiful. I-I couldn't h-help myself," he shuddered, nearly gagging.

"Well perhaps we could take things a step furth--" she stopped to look at him.

"Are you holding the key, Adrien?"

"No," he lied.

"I don't believe you."

He watched her swiftly reach under her pillow and produce a double pronged rectangle... some kind of remote.

As she jabbed it into his side his ribs exploded in crackling pain.

"Definitely not a remote. That's a taser." He concluded.

Yet even in the sharp pain, Adrien felt a sense of peace. She knew he wasn't trying to cheat on his princess. His heart belonged solely to Marinette, and Ghost Moth knew it.

As Adrien felt his consciousness begin to fade, he sighed. "Hopefully Marinette finds me."

He woke up what felt like seconds later on a chair. Or perhaps it was a wheelchair.

He felt himself lurch forward as a force behind him propelled the chair. "Yep, definitely a wheelchair."

Adrien glanced at his wrists, surprised to see they weren't restrained. He tried to lidt them, but was surprised to find they didn't lift.

"Adrien, darling, I pumped you with enough muscle relaxers to stop a horse. Don't think you'll be able to escape. Apparently you are still stuck on that Marinette girl."

Adrien ignored the rest of Ghost Moth's lecture about how they were true love and he should forget Ladybug. Instead he watched as she pushed him closer and closer to the kitchen counter. He saw a bowl of fruit and a large clock. The time on it told him that he had been unconscious for more than the few seconds he and previously guessed. When they reached it he struggled with all his might to yank his arm upward.

By some miracle he slapped the two nearest objects, a clock and an orange, dashing them into the ground. Exactly as he planned. He hoped this would function as a clue.

His warden stared at the crushed fruit and broken timepiece.

"I suppose you might need a slightly bigger dose."

Adrien saw her lift a needle, and press it to his skin. And then he lost all mobility. Even speaking was impossible.

"Time for the airport," she trilled, pushing Adrien forward.

It was at that moment that the first rays of dawn broke through the horizon.

Across the city, the same small gleam of morning light blasted into Marinette's eyes, waking her with a start.

"Manor-home!" She cried,"the manor is his home."

She scurried through the house, looking for Alya and Nino. They were curled upon the carpet, a phone on the ground next to them. It was likely they had been video chatting with their little ones and parents.

A sudden pang of guilt came over Marinette. Her friends were sacrificing their time with their family, along with their safety.

"And here they are sleeping on the floor, after arguing because of my mess," she thought emotionally.

"No time for tears- Important news," Marinette reminded herself.

"Alya, Nino, I figured it out! Manners-Manor-House!"

The couple stirred, and Alya's eyes fluttered open.

"Agreste Manor! Of course! How did we not see it?" She cried in response.

Nino grumbled, "What about Agreste's manners? They're pretty good... especially his table manners."

"No, his manor. You know?" Marinette asked.

Nino shook his head.

"A 'manor' is a concrete noun, a manner is an abstract noun," his wife explained.

"Great, maybe we can find the manor at Adrien's house," he suggested.

The girls didn't even bother to tell Nino that "Adrien's house" was the very definition of a manor; they knew they had to hurry if they wanted to reach Adrien.

The trio called their transformations, and ran out of the apartment.

Each flew through the Parisian streets in their own heroic fashion, daring themselves to reach Gabriel's mansion before Ghost Moth could escape.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the heroes reached the front gate. On one pillar of the gate was a speaker and a plaque reading "Agreste Manor".

Marinette barely heard Nino's whisper: "oooh, a manor is like a mansion".

Instead she listened to a vaguely familiar feminine voice over the intercom.

"Adrien's mine! And you'll have to fight my latest Akumo... akumer... I mean, my latest Akuma to get to him!"

Suddenly the front door exploded into shards of wood, and an ax wielding fireman appeared. He wore a gas mask, along with the standard fireman's attire: large boots, a helmet, and a thick neon coat. What was original were the two hoses, which were menacingly protruding from his sleeve. Each let out a blast of high pressure water, cutting through the steel gate. He looked absolutely terrifying.

"I am Firefighter!"

Oh, the things Marinette would do for her Kitty.

**OK, so we might be getting to the point where we could have ideas of who our criminal is! I wonder? Also, notice how she is finally definitively called a she? That's a nice clue.****-Icarus **


End file.
